Being a keen observer of the human condition, and a sometimes participant in it, I think it is fair to say that most new mothers love their new babies. When our first child arrived, Margaret exclaimed in wonderment to the attending physician, "I thought all newborns were ugly; my daughter is beautiful!" Nature knows that a baby without a mother's love is in for big trouble. Even government knows.
What do you do with the tinsel on the Christmas tree after Christmas? Save it for next year? Decorate birthday gifts? Throw it away?
I still have the handmade Santa Claus that I fashioned out of poster board, and then colored with red crayon (Santa’s suit), with black crayon (Santa’s belt and one boot) and with brown crayon (Santa’s other boot) plus a clump of fluffy cotton glued on for his straggly beard. Santa has hung around on the family Yule tree every year since I was in the first grade.
Once again we approach Christmas. Yet particularly this year, people all over the world are struggling with fear and anxiety: fear of a possible war in the Middle East and its unpredictable consequences far beyond the region; fear of deadly terrorist attacks like those that occurred in Bali or in Moscow recently; fear of loss of livelihood and destitution, as in Argentina; fear of a long-drawn-out illness and death among those living with AIDS, especially in sub-Saharan Africa;
"Make them stop! Make them stop!" That's my younger daughter's advice to the people in our town who fired up their Christmas lights and decorations, even put up their trees, well before Thanksgiving.
"Don't they know they're rushing the season?" my older daughter asked.
The 214th General Assembly (2002) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved 13 amendments to the Book of Order and recommended them to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative votes.
A majority of the 173 presbyteries must approve an amendment for it to pass. The votes are to be reported to the 215th General Assembly (2003), and all those approved will take effect at that time.
Is the triune God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — truly present in the world God made and for which Christ died on the cross? That is the question being raised in this space during this season of Advent leading toward Christmas.
The point made in the previous column was that much of what we observe about the life of today's church — modern, acculturated, well-to-do, self-satisfied — would lead the impartial observer to question whether we modern Christians truly believe that God is really present.
Even in the midst of an impassioned discussion regarding our understanding of the nature and practice of ministry, the Presbyterian Church, U.S. A. can be grateful that God is calling us to wrestle seriously with such issues. The question of how to vote on Amendment A challenges each of us to probe deeply our assumptions and expectations of roles and titles commonly used in our denomination. My own prayerful - and difficult - probing of the issues surrounding this amendment and my attitudes regarding those issues, has led me to speak in favor of the proposal set before us.
As one of the members of the Task Force on the Educational Design for the Ordination of Certified Christian Educators, I must take exception to some of the interpretations of the effect of the overtures, and to some of the arguments, offered in the front-page assessment article by Bill Lancaster (Jan. 13-20). Allow me to be specific:
The summaries and responses below are in rebuttal to the con positions presented in the "Assessing the Amendments To the Constitution" article from the Jan. 13-20, 2003 Presbyterian Outlook.
Together the amendments of 02-A.1-5 and 02-C.1-5 provide both theological and institutional clarity on Christian educators in our church today.
If passed by a majority of presbyteries, Amendment A will create a pathway for certified directors of Christian education (DCE) to become associate pastors (AP) of the Word and Sacrament, and in specified situations to continue to function in their present locations. The following points are lodged against the approval of this amendment.
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